Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky may be best remembered for the Nutcracker Suite. Not surprisingly, four dances from that ballet are included on CHILL WITH TCHAIKOVSKY. However, Tchaikovsky's symphonies are equally compelling.

For example, the "Pathetique" from Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 is performed exquisitely here by the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra. Elegant yet melancholic, it invokes a plethora of emotions. A series of love themes make up the movement, and in many ways, this sorrowful work portends the composer's own death. (He died only nine days after the work was premiered.) Other pieces on this recording include the ever-charming "Valse Sentimentale in F Minor, Op. 51 No. 6," which illustrates the range of Tchaikovsky's music. Criticized during his lifetime for not drawing strictly from Russian themes, this waltz highlights the composer's ability to write in the French impressionist style. Tchaikovsky ultimately embraced universal compositional devices and often disregarded regionalism and nationalist dogma. Thankfully, his diverse musical vision is captured on this smart collection.